Microscope scanners available today typically digitise images of microscope samples, such as slides, by obtaining images of multiple sections on the surface of a sample and combining these together into an image grid to create an overall digitised image of the sample.
In order to avoid any spatial distortions in the image it is advantageous to ensure that each image is obtained at regularly spaced intervals on the sample. Current microscope scanners attempt to achieve this by moving the sample at a constant velocity relative to a detector and then acquiring multiple images of the sample at a given frequency using the detector. The movement of the sample may be synchronised with the capture rate of the detector so as to enable image capture at the maximum possible rate whilst ensuring that the surface of the sample is fully imaged. Despite this it has been found that spatial distortions can still occur in the digitised image.